Friendship forged in Darkness
by RagingCassowary
Summary: Alternate story where Tifa and Sora meet in Hollow Bastion during the events of KHI. What follows is a friendship. One forged in the darkest of places, when Sora is at his weakest.
1. Chapter I: Alone

**A/N:** _I came up with this idea while playing Hollow Bastion on KH1. I remember hearing somewhere that Tifa was originally intended to appear in KH1, but for some reason she didn't show up until the second game. This gave me an idea, I decided to write an alternate set of events for Hollow Bastion which includes Tifa instead of Beast. To give the story some context, everything that happened in KH1 up to the point where you reach Hollow Bastion is exactly the same and some of the story after will be as well. Oh, also I've had to lower Tifa's age to make this story work, for reasons that will be apparent later._

**0000** _indicates a change in perspective or time skip_

**Disclaimer:** _I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters used in this story_

**0000**

**Chapter I: Alone**

"Sora... sorry."

Sora barely heard the words. He was lost in a mad rush of memories and emotions. '_Why..._' he though to himself.

He tilted his head upwards slightly to see the other three walking away from him. Riku hadn't released the keyblade, instead he was admiring his new weapon, lazily swinging it through the air while he tried to get used to the weight of it in his hand. As Sora watched, he threw it high into the air and watched it spin above him. Just as it began to descend, he stuck out his left hand and caught it with ease. He made a small noise of approval. Donald and Goofy however, looked less comfortable with this sudden turn of events. Goofy's shoulders were slumped and and he dragged his feet slightly as he followed the silver haired boy. Donald on the other hand stomped his feet slightly as he walked, clearly frustrated at having to make this choice. So much for no sad faces.

Sora's eyes dropped to the ground again and he stared at the cold stone beneath him. He felt like, ever since that storm, pieces of his heart were being torn away and thrown from his reach. First it was Kairi, disappearing in Sora's arms as the darkness bled from that door. Then his entire world was swallowed by a great shadow. This had been followed by Riku, surrendering himself to the heartless. Now Donald, Goofy, even the Keyblade... they were all gone. They'd all left him. '_Why did the Keyblade do that?_'

Of all the things he'd lost this was, strangely, the one that had hit him the hardest. When Riku had taken it from him, it felt like someone had found a way into his very soul and stolen a part of him. He'd thought of the Keyblade as many things; a weapon, a key, a conduit for his magic, but never once had he thought of it as something personal. He'd never considered it a piece of his own heart. And now it had been taken from him, _stolen_ by someone he'd thought was a friend. '_Except... no, not stolen. It left._' he remembered. The Keyblade chooses it's own master. '_It left me and now I'm alone._'

The former Keyblade master found his thoughts drifting to the adventures he'd had. Fighting the Darkside and gaining the Keyblade, wandering from world to world with Donald and Goofy, seeing sights he'd never even dared to dream existed. He thought about the friends he'd made and the people he'd helped; Leon and the others from Traverse Town, Tarzan and the gorillas, the odd people of Wonderland, Ariel and Aladdin and everyone else. Sora had swum the seas as a merman, flown across a city skyline with fairies and battled the three-headed guardian of the underworld. He'd seen so much, done so much, all to reach this point.

'_Was it all for nothing? Am I really just a delivery boy?_'

Suddenly, he heard a strange sound. It sounded like... the tinkling of tiny bells. He was abruptly aware of something tugging at one of the spikes on his head. He looked up and found himself staring at a pair of tiny, brilliant blue eyes. These eyes belonged to a little fairy in a green dress, with blonde hair and a pair of elegant wings sprouting from her back. She gazed directly at Sora with a look of pure determination, a look that conveyed one meaning. '_No._' Tinker Bell shook her head to further illustrate the point. Slowly, Sora's face morphed into one of understanding, then a determination to match to match the one before him. '_I'm not alone..._' thought Sora. His hand went to the pouch behind him and he pulled out small red gem which seemed to burn from within. He stood slowly and lifted the wooden sword that Riku had thrown at him. '_I'm not alone and I'm certainly not going to just give in._'

He took a step forward. Then another. The worlds were still in danger, Kairi was still gone and the Heartless were still everywhere. Keyblade or no, he was going to see this through to end. Tinker Bell moved to hover in front of him, giving him a small smile. He couldn't help but smile back. '_No matter how bad things get, this boat still runs on happy faces._' As if on cue, he felt a familiar feeling, similar to a shadow being cast over him, and shivered. He span around just in time to see the heartless appear from their trademark spheres of darkness. There were about twenty or so, mainly shadows, but he spied a few soldiers and requiems here and there. Sora gripped his makeshift weapon in one hand and readied himself. With the Keyblade and his friends, this wouldn't have been a problem. '_This time though..._'

Sora shook that thought from his mind and sent a wave of magic down his left arm and into the summon gem. He felt a warmth as the gem vanished in a cloud of smoke and ashes and heard a familiar sound from atop his head. "I am Mushu!" His grin widened even more at his friend's signature entrance and he switched his grip on the sword to two handed. '_I am not alone._' He thought and charged headlong into the forces of evil arrayed before him, with a golden fairy at his side and miniature dragon on his head.

**0000**

Tifa pulled herself up and onto the ledge, then stood up. She turned her head from side to side, taking in her surroundings. What she can only assume to have once been a grand and expansive courtyard was now reduced to crumbling ruins surrounded by a wall of dark water. To her left was a huge structure that dominated the entire landscape, somehow still managing to have a certain grandeur even after succumbing to the power of darkness. She had to admit, she was impressed that anything still remained of this world with the amount of heartless running around the place.

She brushed a few strands of hair out of her eyes and started forward. '_I'm not here to sightsee._' she told herself, '_He's here somewhere, I'm sure of it._' Of course, she had told herself this many times before, like at Traverse Town and when she'd heard about a guy with spiky hair was going around saving worlds. So far, all her gut feelings had got her were disappointment and dead-ends. '_But this is different._' She thought, only partially believing herself. She'd been looking to enter a tournament in a world of warriors and heroes when she'd seen his name written on what looked like a leader board. When she'd questioned the arena's owner about the name, he'd said that he didn't know who the guy was, but he did remember him saying something about '_going home_' before he left.

'_Going home..._' That could only mean one place. The place she was stood in right now. The place where it all began.

Hollow Bastion.

She was awoken from her thoughts by the sound of combat, something she knew only too well. Rushing towards the edge of the outcropping she was on, she stopped short as she beheld one of the strangest sights she had ever seen. She blinked, not sure she'd seen it quite right. In the gorge beneath her was a small army of heartless, surrounding a figure. Every so often there would be a flash of light and the heartless would back away from the figure slightly. It was in one of these moments that she once again beheld what made the sight so strange. The figure was no older than fifteen with spiky brown hair. He had what looked like a dragon sitting on his head and tiny fairy fluttering around him. But the strangest detail, was that the sword he wielded, was made of _wood_. He was fighting off heartless with what could only be described as a stick '_So I didn't imagine it._'

As impressive as this boy was though, he was visibly tired and probably wouldn't last much longer. And, more importantly to Tifa, he wasn't who she was looking for. "He's not Cloud," she stated, disappointed. She knew she should help him, if she didn't he'd probably be overwhelmed, but...

She couldn't. She knew that Cloud was here somewhere and she had to get moving if she wanted to find him before he left again. "I have to go..." She said and went to walk away. Her legs didn't move. She frowned, her mind was telling her that she had to leave, but her body seemed to be refusing. She found that she couldn't look away from the boy in the gorge. "I have to go." She repeated, stronger this time, but still her body would not move. She silently screamed at herself, why was she being so indecisive? Was she really going to pass up the first chance she had to see Cloud, over some kid. Somewhere deep inside her, a voice answered her.

'_That kid is fighting off the embodiment of darkness and evil, with nothing but a wooden sword, and your just going to let him die?_'

"Yes!" she replied, getting angry at herself now. She knew that was a lie, or else she would have left already. Why couldn't she just leave him?

'_Because your better than that._' The voice of reason supplied for her again.

She sighed and looked back at the fight. The dragon and fairy were gone and the boy was alone, with heartless on all sides. She could see how tired he was, he could barely lift that sword any more. Out of nowhere, a shadow leapt at him, claws raised, but he rolled clumsily to the side and sent a ball of fire flying at the little monster, causing it to disintegrate into darkness and its tortured heart to be released. He lifted the sword and readied himself again. In that moment Tifa made up her mind. She lowered her head slowly.

"Sorry Cloud."

She raised her head and crouched getting ready to jump. Whoever this boy was, he knew how to fight heartless and he wasn't going to give in. She couldn't leave him to fight on alone.

**0000**

Sora knew he was going to lose when Mushu fell. The three of them had been fighting a big body, when Sora had been knocked over by one of its charges. Mushu had used all his remaining energy to defeat the oversized heartless and had returned to his gem form. Tink had pulled out not long after, when she got hit by a stray shadow's claw. Sora had fought on even after they had both fallen, but he knew that it was only a matter of time before he followed them. He had no energy left for another summon and his moves were becoming sluggish and clumsy. He knocked a soldier to the side with his stick, as it swiped at him, and staggered back. The soldier landed perfectly and got ready to attack again, undamaged. Sora raised his weapon and prepared for the impact, but it didn't come. Instead he watched as the heartless flew backwards into a group of shadows, knocking them to the floor. Stood where it had been a moment earlier was a girl, with dark hair and red eyes. She turned to Sora, who was still staring at her dumbfounded.

"Look out!" She warned, breaking him from his trance. He instinctively rolled forwards and span round as he came back up, bringing his weapon high to block an attack. He despaired as he saw the sight before him. There was a _horde_ of heartless. That really was the only word to describe it. Horde. Shadows and soldiers. Nocturnes and Requiems. It was like all that fighting he had just done was for nothing, they just kept coming. "Hey." Sora turned slightly to see the girl smiling at him reassuringly "Don't worry, we can do this." She said, still grinning at him. She was obviously lying, but still she smiled at him.

'_This boat runs on happy faces._'

"No," said Sora, "We can't," Her smile seemed to drop a bit when he said that, but suddenly he was smiling back at her. "When I say now, run."

"Run where?" She asked glancing around.

"Away from here." He suggested, turning back to the heartless. They had finally regrouped and were getting ready to attack. His plan was terrible and almost certainly ended with him either dead or taken by the heartless, but it would give her enough time to escape. '_She's more important than I am_' he'd always tried to help others and right now he didn't care if he had to pay the price to do so. '_I'm just the kid with nothing but a stick and some magic tricks_' The first shadows began surging forwards and he pointed this stick straight at them "Now!" He shouted, releasing all his remaining energy in a Thundaga spell. The lightning bolts struck the ground in front of the heartless, causing them to stagger to a stop before they hit it, but more importantly, two of the bolts hit the the pillars which kept the arch above them in place. The sound of the stone crashing to the ground was deafening, as the arch came falling down on top of the heartless. The platform the heartless were on began to teeter unsteadily, then finally bowed to the power of gravity and collapsed.

Sora felt a wave of weariness pass through him as his body finally gave in. He fell to his knees and then flat on his face. Just before his body fell into darkness, he was dimly aware of someone grabbing him by his shoulders and shouting something.

**0000**

**A/N:** _Well there you are that's the first chapter, hope you enjoyed it. I don't know when the next chapter will be out but I'll probably wait until I get a few reviews before I release it. Which reminds me, I welcome constructive criticism so long as it is helpful, this is my first fic and I'd appreciate some feedback on how I did. Until next time, good readers._


	2. Chapter II: Awakening

**A/N: **_I know I said that I would wait until I had more reviews, but I found myself with Biology homework I didn't want to do and in the middle of my procrastinating, I ended up finishing this chapter earlier than I thought I would. So, I thought to myself, I'll just upload it anyway, even though I only have one review. I will be honest and say that I have never played a Final Fantasy game, so all I know about those characters comes from Kingdom Hearts. Also, I haven't yet played Birth By Sleep or 3D, so I apologise if I get some of the lore wrong. Good, now that the confessions are out of the way, I'll get back to the actual story. Oh, one last thing, if anyone has any artwork that they think would work well as a front cover for this story, please let me know. I have been having trouble finding some on my own._

**0000 **_before/after a section of italicised text indicates the start/end of a flashback, dream or vision._

**0000**

**Chapter II: Awakening**

When Sora woke for the first time, it was to the sound of a fire crackling. He lay there for a few moments just listening, then slowly opened his eyes. He found himself looking at a high wooden ceiling shrouded in shadows. Tilting his head forwards slightly, he turned his neck and took in his surroundings. He was lying beneath a layer of thin grey sheets on a hard wooden bed. This bed was in the corner of, what looked like, a run-down shack that someone had tried to turn into a home. The floor was made of hard, grey stone and was covered in places by tattered old rugs with faded colours. The walls were made of a similar material and the holes in them, that may once have held windows, had been patched up shoddily with crates and wooden boards. On Sora's far left side was a section of wall that seemed to have collapsed slightly, leaving a hole which appeared to lead into another room. The hole was only partially covered by ripped purple curtain that hung down over it, Sora assumed that there had been a door there at one point. Switching his attention back to the room he was in, he noticed a firepit in the centre of the room that was responsible for the sound he'd heard when he first awoke. The smoke from the fire was allowed to escape the room by a small hole in the ceiling. Stood over the fire was the girl who'd saved him. She had her back to him and was stirring a black pot of something that hung over the fire. The pot was steaming slightly and giving off a pleasant and hunger-inducing aroma. Sora took a long, deep breath and his nostrils filled with the scent. He sighed at how good it smelled and his stomach groaned.

The girl turned to him at the noise and the corners of her mouth lifted into a smile. She had dark, waist-length hair and eyes similar to the colour of wine. She was wearing an almost entirely black outfit and had a small, tear-drop shaped earring through her left ear. Sora thought she looked about 18 or 19. "About time you woke up," she said, crossing her arms over her chest, "I was beginning to think I'd dragged you back for nothing." Sora was taken aback by that, then he saw that she was still smiling at him. He chuckled,"So, what happened to running away?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. Her smile widened at his comment, "I'd just jumped into an army of heartless to save a boy I didn't know. Suddenly, we're facing odds we can't possibly win, when this boy decides to use up all his remaining energy to let me escape. Then, I watched him collapse as the heartless are crushed," she leaned forward and looked the boy right in the eye, "And you thought I'd just leave you?" She let out a small laugh, but her statement hit Sora right in his heart. He turned away from her, "It wouldn't be the first time..." his smile dropped as he remembered what had happened, '_All for one and one for all?_' he thought bitterly, '_I guess I can't blame them. They have their own quest._' Shakily, he raised his right hand up to his face and stared at his palm. He tried summoning the Keyblade, focusing all of his concentration on it. He was willing it, begging it to appear.

Nothing happened.

Once again, he felt as if his heart had been torn, leaving behind a gaping hole where the Key had once been. The sound of someone clearing their throat broke him from his thoughts. He turned back to the girl in black. She had one hand on her hip and was looking at him with a look of curiosity. "While I'm sure your hand is very interesting, I can't help but feel a tiny bit offended by the fact that it's more interesting than I am." She said, still grinning. He laughed again, forgetting his worries for the moment. "Sorry, just thinking about... stuff." He apologised. She nodded, obviously realising that it was something personal. "Stuff is cool," she said, shrugging, then turned back to the pot and lifted it off the fire. "You must have some sort of sixth sense or something, you managed to wake up just when the food finished." She grabbed two wooden bowls from a shelf and started to fill them with steaming soup. He laughed again, deciding that he liked this girl. "Isn't that just called sense of smell," he asked. She smirked and passed him a bowl and a spoon. "Just be quiet and eat. You were out for while, I bet you're starving." He stuck a small spoonful of the liquid in his mouth and gulped it down. It seared his throat and tongue as he swallowed it. It was too hot, too thin and had almost no taste. It was the best thing Sora had ever eaten.

He quickly finished off the bowl and lay back down, his stomach feeling a little better. The girl was just watching him, eating her food much slower in small spoonfuls. He frowned at her, "What?" he demanded, and she chuckled a little, "Nothing," she answered, "Just wondering how you managed to get soup in your hair." He looked up and scratched the back of his head, "I was really hungry..."

"I noticed." She said. He frowned at her again, but this only served to make her laugh even more. '_I guess my face just wasn't made to look angry._' Suddenly he found himself laughing as well. He didn't know why, but he liked the sound of it so he continued. He sat there in a ruin of a house, with soup in his hair, laughing for no reason with a girl whose name he didn't even know. '_It's good to be back._' he thought to himself.

**0000**

Tifa sat there laughing with a boy she didn't know. She knew she'd passed up on her chance to see Cloud. He was probably long gone by now, just like every other time. Strangely though, she found that it didn't really matter to her. When she had jumped down to save this boy, she'd intended to help him fight off the heartless, then continue looking for Cloud. However, when the boy had collapsed from exhaustion after, quite possibly, saving her life, she couldn't just leave him. '_I'm better than that,_' she thought, her mind wandering back to that moment...

**0000**

_Tifa readied herself to run as the boy faced down the overwhelming odds. She knew that he was right, there was no way that they could fight this. Their only chance was to run as fast as they could in the opposite direction._

"_Now!"_

_She went to run, but once again her body disobeyed. She watched as the boy fell to his knees before her, the heartless in front of him crushed by his magic and falling into the ravine. As he fell forward and the ground beneath her began to wobble, time seemed to stop. Her mind was struggling to process what had just happened._ 'I came down here to save him, not the other way around!' _She found herself subconsciously running forward, grabbing him by the shoulders and shouting incoherently in his ear._ 'Time to do what came to do' _she_ _thought as reality began to set in again. She found herself running with him over her shoulder as the ground shook and threatened to collapse. She leapt from the platform and landed on solid ground, tripping and ending up sprawled on the floor. She slowly stood and lifted the boy again, then began walking away. Just as she reached the entrance to the gorge, she turned her head to the destruction behind her and saw several heartless rise up from the rubble._ 'Sorry Cloud.' _She turned back and started running._

**0000**

"Uh, hello?" Tifa snapped back into reality at the sound. The spiky-haired boy was staring at her and she realised that she'd been staring off into the distance. "Oh, uh... sorry, I was just thinking about... stuff." She watched him smile as she repeated his words. "So, what were you saying?" she asked, annoyed at herself for doing what she'd laughed at him for earlier. "Hmm? Oh right, I was saying we haven't actually been introduced yet," He said, holding out his hand. "I'm Sora."

"Tifa," she replied taking his hand and shaking it, "A pleasure,"

"I'm sure it is." They both laughed a little when he said that and Tifa found herself thinking that this kid wasn't that bad. "So, Tifa." he said, looking up at her. "Yes?" she prompted.

"Where are we?"

"We're in the town on the outskirts of Hollow Bastion. This is my current base of operations," She replied, looking around at the house, "I got a tip that a someone I'm looking for was here, so I set up in this house while I searched the town. So far, I've had no luck." She moved her eyes back to him, "What about you, what brings you to the biggest pit of darkness ever created." He gave her a slightly shocked look, "Pretty much the same reason as you, I came here looking for some friends I lost a while back." She smiled at that. "You know what they say about great minds..." He tilted his head to the side as he replied, "They're often completely mad minds as well?"

"No!" she retorted, her laughter growing "Don't be stupid." He was laughing as well now, but suddenly his smile dropped and he started wobbling slightly, then fell backwards onto the bed. "Hey," she said, moving to help him lie down. "Maybe you should get some rest," she suggested. He looked at her. "How long was I out?"

She bit her lip, "N-not long, maybe a... a few hours." He frowned at her again and she sighed, "Three days, including the day it happened," He grimaced when she said that, then looked back at her with a small smile, "Thanks Tifa. Thanks for helping me." She shook her head. "It was nothing, now try and get some rest okay?" He nodded and closed his eyes. It didn't take long for him to fall asleep.

Once she had extinguished the fire and made sure Sora was asleep, Tifa walked towards the hole in the far wall, grabbing their empty soup bowls as she did. She pushed the curtain to the side and stepped into the second room, depositing the bowls in a cracked sink. Walking towards the front door, she stepped outside and sighed as the cold air hit her face, then set off down the ruined street. Now that she knew Sora was okay, she could get back to finding a way out of this mess. Pausing in mid step, she looked down at the object she had just stepped on. She bent down, picked it up, then started turning it in her hands. It was about half a foot long and an inch thick. It's surface was bright green and there were small chunks of various colours sticking out of it. This wasn't a gummi she was familiar with, but it told her she was on the right track. She looked around and saw another block to her left and another further on. She began to follow the trail, moving off the street and into a more ruined part of the town. The trail led to a house with a sizeable hole in its roof and gummis scattered all around it. She walked inside, hoping she would finally find something useful.

**0000**

When Sora woke for the second time, he was alone. He gazed around at the dimly lit room and shivered. The fire had burnt out, leaving only charred and smoking remains in the middle of the pit. The room felt cold and dark without the fire, the only light coming from the hole in the roof and the cracks in the walls, but that wasn't why Sora felt nervous. He glanced around again to confirm he was alone. "Tifa?" he said, his voice sounding eerily loud in the silence that surrounded him. There was no reply. He sat up in bed and squinted as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. '_She's not here,_'he thought, '_I'm alone..._' The thought filled Sora with an unexpected feeling of panic. He pushed himself up and got of the bed, leaning on the bedpost to support himself. He felt a cramp is his legs as he put weight on them, but that was to be expected after three days in bed. "Tifa?" he repeated, louder this time. Still there was no response. He felt his panic rapidly growing as he stumbled over to the purple cloth that hung on the far wall and pulled it to the side, revealing a slightly larger and less damaged room. "Tifa? Tifa, where are you!?" His heart dropped as he was yet again answered by silence. In his head he was trying to think of reasons she had to leave or places she may need to go, but in his heart he could only hear two words, repeated again and again, '_She left._'

He sighed and was about to turn and go back through the makeshift door, when the real door on the far side of the room slammed open and Tifa burst in, her arms filled with multi-coloured blocks and looking incredibly out of breath. "Sora, are you okay? I heard you shouting from outside." Sora relaxed as she came barging in all red-faced and he gave a small sigh of relief. He allowed a small smile to form on his face and looked down at the floor, his breath gradually slowing back to normal. "Sora?" She said and he looked back up at her face. Her red eyes were filled with concern. He felt a small stab of pain in his heart. "It- It's nothing. I just thought that..." His voice stopped and she looked at him expectingly, but he had no words to give. '_I just thought that what?_' he asked himself, '_That she'd just run away for no apparent reason? That she left me when I was weak and alone? What kind of a person do I think she is?_' He glanced into her eyes and then quickly looked away, "It doesn't matter. I- I'm fine." He continued to avert his gaze, not able to look her in the eye.

"Okay... so, I see you're up and about already. Feeling better?" She asked and he silently thanked her for breaking such an awkward moment. He turned back to her, smiling again. "Yeah, much," he confirmed, nodding, "I'm still aching from being in bed for so long, but other than that I feel fine," She returned his smile, "That's great! Here, do you think you could help me with these?" Sora's eyes finally moved to the objects in her arms and he realised that they were gummi blocks. "Yeah sure," he agreed, taking some of the brightly coloured bricks in his arms and pushing aside the drape behind him. "Where do want them?" he asked, looking from side to side.

"Just over here," she said and walked over to large chest in one corner of the room. She kicked it open and Sora gaped at the contents. There were gummis of all different shapes, sizes and colours, some of which he'd never even seen before. He dropped his pile inside along with hers and turned to face her. "Forgive me for asking, but why do you need so many gummi blocks?" he asked, baffled. Tifa's smile faded as she explained, "Well I came to this world using a gummi ship I got from an old friend. Only, I may have underestimated the amount of heartless that would be guarding it," She sat down on a stool near the fire and looked up at Sora. "They managed to damage my ship heavily and I was forced to make a crash landing." Sora sat down on his bed and watched her, waiting for her to continue. "If it had just been the armour or the weapons that were damaged, I'd have been fine, but the impact destroyed my warp gummi as well." She looked at her hands as she continued, "So now, I either need to find a replacement warp gummi or repair my ship enough that I can fight my way off this world. When I'm out searching the town, I make sure to keep an eye out for gummis that might be useful. It isn't hard to find them, this town is like a gummi graveyard." she tilted her head back up to look at him again, "Either way, I'm trapped here unless I do something about it."

Sora had a thoughtful expression on his face and was looking at the wall next to him, "You know," he began, "Me and my friends travelled to a lot of different worlds before we came here and we managed to build up quite the collection of gummis." He turned to her, "I'm sure that there's something on our ship that could help you out," Her face lit up as he said that and she sat up a little straighter. "You think so?" she asked a small sparkle in her ruby eyes. He nodded, "Yeah sure, and if not we can use my warp gummi to reach Traverse Town, I know a guy there who's something of a gummi expert. I'm sure he'd be able to help you out." She stood up suddenly with a determined look on her face, "That's great! Thanks," she looked a bit puzzled for a moment, "Where is your ship, is it in town somewhere?" Sora shook his head.

"No, it's just outside that fortress. Near where we first met" She crossed her arms and stared into the distance, biting her lip a little. They stayed like this for a few moments and when Sora was about to ask if something was wrong, she replied. "That... complicates things a bit," she said, then shook her head, "It doesn't matter right now. It's getting late and we should probably get some sleep. We'll talk about this in the morning." Sora looked up through the hole in the ceiling and saw that it was indeed beginning to get dark. '_I guess I was asleep longer than I thought_' He found himself letting out a long yawn without meaning to and heard Tifa giggle at the sound. He scrunched his face up into a frown. "What?" he said. She began to laugh harder at his attempts to look annoyed at her and replied, "You've been asleep for three days and you're still tired," she chuckled, "You're such a lazy bum, Sora," she finished and his heart dropped. Deep down he knew it was just a poor choice of words, '_She doesn't know about Kairi, how could she?_' That didn't stop him from wincing as she used that phrase to describe him. Unbidden, thoughts of Kairi came flooding into his mind, but he pushed them away. He thought he saw her stood in the corner of the room, but he turned away, he didn't want to think about her right now, it would just bring back more memories of what he'd lost. As he turned his eyes away from the vision, he found himself looking straight into Tifa's. Those red orbs held a familiar look of concern, "You okay?" she asked, "You were staring off into space again." He shook himself out of his memories and lay back on the bed, "I'm fine, just tired. You're right, we should get some sleep." He closed his eyes and turned on his side, facing away from the girl next to him.

**0000**

Tifa bit her lip again. She knew it was something she'd said, but she also knew that Sora probably didn't want to talk about it. She sighed and made her way over to the other bed in the room. In truth it wasn't really a bed, just a spare mattress that she'd found in the back of the house, pushed into the corner and covered in a few blankets. She'd had to give up her bed to Sora while he was recovering and that was where he lay now. '_I suppose he can have another comfy night, I'm not about to point it out to him right now._' She lay on her back and stared at the ceiling, exhausted from the effort of taking care of Sora and salvaging gummis. She felt her eyelids drooping, but before she succumbed to sleep she called out, "Goodnight, Sora." She waited for him to respond and for moment thought he was already asleep, but then she heard him reply, "Goodnight, Tifa."

**0000**

**A/N:** _And there's the second chapter guys, I think I prefer it to the first, but that's just my opinion. I had to put the thing in about madness and genius being interchangeable, it seems like the sort of thing Sora would say, especially after visiting Wonderland. Once again please leave me a review to let me know how I did and if I can improve. This time I will definitely wait for a few reviews before I release the next chapter. Until then, farewell my good readers._


	3. Chapter III: Weak

**A/N: **_Merry Christmas, good readers! My present to you all? Why an extra long chapter of course. No really, this one is quite long. So, a couple of things; I went back to Hollow Bastion in the game and I realised that the version in this story is very different to what it actually looks like in KH1. The Hollow Bastion I imagine when writing looks like a cross between the KH1 and KH2 versions. I noticed a few other errors I made, but I won't be changing them because that would mean changing some of the plot and I want to avoid doing that as much as possible. I also remembered how much I love the Dumbo summon. Trust me, you'll understand.__I may start referring to this story as FFID from now on, instead of using the full title._

**0000**

**Chapter III: Weak**

The world was cold and quiet, as the two figures made their way through the broken corpse of the town. The area where Tifa had made her base was undoubtedly the most intact place, a broad, cobbled street flanked on either side by what were once shops and houses. The street was cracked in places and some of the buildings were just crumbled ruins. However a few of them, like the one they were staying in, seemed habitable, if a bit run-down. When the two turned off and entered a more collapsed section of the town, it was a different story. The buildings here were just empty shells or piles of rubble and the streets were almost non-existent, reduced to dirt paths with the occasional section of cobbled street poking out from the ground. Despite the lack of anything to cast them, long shadows seemed to cling to every surface, making the morning air seem darker and colder. As the two of them climbed a set of battered stairs, they got their first look at the imposing structure in the distance. The fortress seemed to mushroom out from the ground on a stone shelf, the front side dominated by a huge replica of the heartless symbol. The many towers and spires were twisted and tangled around one another, as they reached towards the red sky, making the place seem like a tall mass of vines and sharp thorns. The thing almost looked alive, with spindly limbs extending out from the sides, as if grasping for something that was just out of reach. The entire place practically oozed darkness and emanated a constant feeling of dread and despair. That was where they were going.

Tifa brushed a few locks of hair out of her eyes, as she gazed upon the monstrosity on the horizon. '_This definitely complicates things._' she thought to herself, turning to Sora to see his reaction. Surprisingly, he didn't seem to be looking at the fortress. Instead, he wore a look of deep thought and seemed to be staring at the town beneath them. "You okay?" she said and he looked at her. "What happened to this place?" he asked. She turned and looked at the ruins, "This was one of the first places the heartless swallowed up, most people didn't manage to get out before the town was crushed," she looked back at him, "The heartless have been here for years now, long enough for them to rid this world of any form of light that may once have been here." He finally moved his eyes to the castle. "I didn't expect it to be so..." He trailed off, looking like he wasn't sure what word to use, "To be so... what?" she prompted. "So... quiet," he finished, finally finding the word he wanted. Tifa smiled at that, a little confused. "Of course it is," she said, "When their home is overwhelmed by darkness, people don't tend to stick around afterwards." His eyes met hers and he replied, "That's my point. Shouldn't this town be swarming with heartless right now? I mean, it's like you said, they've had years to make this place their own." She nodded, understanding what he meant now. It was strange, but she was fairly sure she had the answer, "I thought the same when I first got here," she answered, then returned her gaze to the dark castle, "I soon realised that they all seem to be converging around that castle for some reason. They show up here occasionally, but only in small groups. Maybe they think that there's nothing left that's worth their time down here, I don't know. What I do know is that there's a lot of them at that castle, some of them I've never even seen before." Sora grimaced and continued staring at their destination in the distance. "So, what your saying is, in order to reach my ship..."

"We're going to have to fight our way through them." She finished his sentence for him and he nodded, "Well, we better get started then." He started walking again and she followed.

**0000**

They were on the far side of town now, just beyond the outer wall. Surrounding them was a desolate wasteland of dark rocks and steep cliffs. With the town behind and the fortress ahead, the journey was eerily silent.

Tifa found her eyes wandering to the wooden sword at Sora's side. She was surprised that it wasn't broken after the beating it must have taken in that last fight. '_Why does Sora use such a flimsy weapon?_' She wondered, tilting her head to the side. "Sora?" she started. He turned to look at her. "You said that you've been to lots of worlds, right?" He nodded, obviously wondering where she was going with this. She bit her lip as she tried to decide how best to phrase it, "You see... it's just that, you must have had to fight heartless and you're weapon just doesn't seem... strong enough." He raised an eyebrow at that. She quickly corrected herself, "I- I'm not saying you're weak or that you're lying. I saw you fighting them, you know what your doing." She sighed, "I just can't understand why you use a sword made of wood" He nodded at that and a sad expression appeared on his face, "I used to have a better weapon," he started, "But someone..." he looked at the ground and sighed, "It..." he faltered again and turned away from her. She was afraid that he wasn't going to answer her, when he finally replied, "I lost it." He started walking faster, still refusing to look at her.

She felt her shoulders droop as he widened the gap between them. That had obviously been a much more personal question than she'd thought, again. She cursed herself silently. His response had hardly sated her curiosity, instead she just had more questions. '_Why was his weapon so important to him?_' she thought, '_Did it have some sentimental value as well? He started to say someone, did somebody take it from him? Why hasn't he replaced it? Was it unique?_' She shook the questions from her mind and quickened her pace to catch up with him. He still wasn't looking at her, appearing to be deep in thought again. "Sora listen..." she said and he turned to her, that sad look still on his face.

"Yes, Tifa?" She gave him a determined look, "I get that you have problems and I keep bringing them up without meaning to." He went to turn away again, but she placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping him. Their eyes met. "But, if we want to get out of here, we're going to need to work together. We have to trust each other." They stood there for a few moments, her crimson eyes locked with his blue. Then he smiled. It was by no means a big smile and there were still hints of sadness in it, but it was real. She could see it in his eyes. He nodded and said, "Okay." She returned his smile and they continued walking towards the castle. '_I'll have to get the truth out of him at some point,_' she decided, '_but, that can wait._'

**0000**

Sora reached down and grasped Tifa's hand, helping her up onto the ledge. She stood up and brushed herself off, taking a few steps away from the edge. He stared at her back and wondered what she must think of him. For the past few days, she had done nothing but help him and this was how he thanked her? '_I know she's just curious and she has a right to know after she saved my life, but..._' he wasn't quite sure how to finish that thought. He tried to piece together just why he was acting like this to her, but he just couldn't put his finger on it. '_I guess I'm just not ready to talk about it yet._' He nodded to himself and moved up to stand next to Tifa. He looked out across the scene before them.

When the two of them had last been here, he hadn't gotten the chance to appreciate just how much damage they had done to the ruins. The main platform, where he'd confronted Riku, had come crashing to the ground, bringing several smaller structures down with it. The result was a towering pile of broken pillars and stone walls. Sora was quite proud of the amount of damage he'd managed to cause with a single spell, especially in the state he'd been. His eyes wandered around the devastation, until they halted upon a wide crack in the side of the gorge. It was difficult to see unless you knew where to look, since it was hidden behind a veil of water. That hole was actually the entrance to a large and spacious cave. It was there that he and his friends had hidden their gummi ship.

He pointed towards the hiding place and tapped Tifa on the shoulder. "Over there," he indicated and she narrowed her eyes, squinting past the water. "Where?" she asked, "I can't see anything." He chuckled a bit at that, trying to make up for their earlier conversation. "That's the point," he said, "It wouldn't be very good hiding spot if it was easy to see." She smiled at that and looked thoughtful. "I guess I can't argue with that. Come on let's get moving." He nodded and began walking around the edge of the outcropping, looking for a way down.

"Sora!" he turned at the urgency in her voice and barely had time to think before his vision was obscured by dark red wings and he felt himself flying through the air. He was about half way down, when his brain registered what was happening. He instinctively flipped over and ducked into a forward roll, breaking his fall as he hit the floor. He pushed himself up and looked around, pulling the sword from his side. He could faintly hear what sounded like the flapping of wings. His gaze turned skyward and his eyes widened. Tifa was stood at the edge of the outcropping, crouched low in a combat stance. In the air above her, a group of heartless with long tattered wings were circling. Sora had never seen their kind before and that worried him. As he franticly racked his brain for everything he knew about flying heartless, he heard a new sound behind him. This one was more like... the crackling of flames. He felt the temperature of the air behind him rise and realisation spread across his face. He dove to the side and turned, narrowly avoiding the fire spell. Before him was a large group of more familiar heartless. Amongst the shadows, soldiers and big bodies he could make out flashes of red, green, blue and yellow, that indicated the presence of elementals.

He raised his weapon and waited for the enemy to attack first. The hairs on the back of his head stood on end and he felt as though someone was behind him. He suddenly realised that they were trying to surround him and spun, bringing his weapon across his body to strike the shadow in the head, as it leapt at him. He quickly brought his weapon back around to block an attack from one of the soldiers. He was almost knocked back by the force of the blow, something he would have easily been able to shrug off before. He stepped back and to the side to dodge the incoming counter attack and felt his back hit a rubbery wall. He looked up to find himself stood against a big body's colossal stomach. He was just beginning to understand the trouble he was in, when he found himself once again flying through the air. He slammed into the floor and slid on his face for a few metres, before coming to a stop and pushing himself up with his sword. He was truly surrounded now. On all sides, heartless were getting ready to pounce. He steadied his stance and ducked to avoid another spell. Five shadows moved at once, with a couple of soldiers just behind them. Sora didn't act until they were almost upon him, then he took a deep breath and released his magic with a cry of, "Thunder!" The sky darkened as the power of thunder lanced down from the heavens around him, striking his foes like the fury of a vengeful god. Four of the shadows were defeated outright, while the remaining one and the soldiers were hurt severely. Sora smirked and ran towards them, intent on finishing it while they were dazed. From somewhere above him, he heard the sound of bells ringing. His face dropped, as his enemies glowed green and shook off their confusion, while the requiem healed their wounds. One of them recovered faster and raised its claw. He couldn't stop his charge and instead brought up his sword again to deflect the blow that was to come. This time, he wasn't quick enough. The claw hit him in the side of his chest and he ended up sprawled across the ground, panting. Standing and shaking his head, he struggled to find his footing.

'_Why can't I do this?_' he asked, as he looked sullenly upon the group before him. He'd not even put a dent in their numbers and he was already tiring. '_This used to be so easy. Why am I so weak?_' he gulped and reached into the pouch at his side, pulling out a crystal covered in protrusions that resembled bubbles. '_I need to get out of here._' He began to focus on dodging attacks and manoeuvred himself into an area where the heartless were less dense. Sending a jolt of energy through his arm, he watched as the heartless appeared to grow bigger and he was engulfed by a vortex of bubbles. '_We have to run._'

**0000**

Tifa bent her knees, as the wyrven flew at her. These winged beasts were very common in this world and, on more than one occasion, she'd been attacked by them inside the town. They were strong, fast and nearly impossible to hit while they were in the air, but they had one weakness. Their impatience. Like all heartless, they operated solely on their instinctual desire to consume hearts. This meant that, while they had the advantage in the air, they would frequently make reckless and obvious charges at ground based targets. The key was to wait for one of these attacks, than use the momentum of the heartless to bring it crashing to the ground. Once they were there, it was a simple matter of just beating them until they stayed down.

When the creature was a few feet from her, she jumped and brought her foot down on its neck. It didn't do much, but it did change the angle of the dive. The heartless let out a silent cry as it collided with solid ground, its wings twisted and trapped beneath it. It began to flail desperately, trying to free the ripped sheets of flesh. It stopped struggling very abruptly when Tifa pounced on the back of its neck. She used her legs to grip its neck and push it into the floor, almost like she planned on riding it, and used her fists to pummel the back of its head relentlessly. As she felt it weaken beneath her, she rolled off and delivered a swift kick to its bottom jaw. The body disappeared and she turned to the others. There were at least sixteen of them left and they were circling her like birds of prey. She dropped low again and wondered why there were so many. '_Its always been dangerous here, but I've never seen anything like this._' Suddenly, two of them dive-bombed her at the same time. She dashed to the side, but one of them caught her arm with it's claws. She tumbled to the ground and clumsily pulled herself back up, gripping the wound on her arm.

It was than that she heard a noise. It was an impossible noise, a noise which had no right to be there. It was the trumpeting call of an elephant. The wyrvens were also distracted by this sound and they, along with Tifa, turned to see the source. When it came into view, she felt her jaw go slack in shock. The sheer absurdity of the sight was indescribable. There, before her, was Sora. Only, this Sora was ten times smaller and sat upon the back of an elephant with huge, floppy ears. Oh, and the elephant was flying as well. She blinked. Sora and the elephant were still there when her eyes opened. '_He really knows how to make an entrance._' she thought, coming back to her senses.

The wyrvens had also snapped out of their rapture and flew straight at Sora. Tifa watched as his eyes took on a look she had never seen before, in anyone. It was a look that conveyed pure determination and strength, yet at the same time it shined with joy and laughter. Sora raised his hand, pointing his stick at the oncoming enemies. His mount did the same with its trunk and let out a long jet of water. The beam arced and struck the wyrven in the face, blinding it. As it rocketed forward uncontrollably, Sora shot forwards and brought his weapon down on the back of the beast's skull, causing it to go crashing to the ground behind Tifa. The force of the impact was enough to destroy the heartless outright and she watched as a glittering heart rose gracefully from the disintegrating corpse. She turned her attention back to the fight and watched as Sora pulled the animal beneath him up to avoid another charge. He turned to her and smiled, giving her a thumbs up. She started to smile back, but stopped when she noticed something behind Sora. "Look out!" she called to him, but it was to late. The wyrven rammed the two from behind, causing the elephant to vanish in a flash of light and Sora to go soaring through the sky, straight at Tifa.

Her eyes widened, but she couldn't move fast enough. He collided with her and the two went rolling down the incline they had climbed to get there. They were reduced to a tangled mess of limbs and Tifa gasped every time they landed on her injured arm. Eventually, they came to halt and Sora was flung off her, landing a short distance away. She pushed herself up and limped over to him. Her left leg hurt whenever she put weight on it and her arm felt like she'd been stabbed repeatedly, then thrown of a cliff. '_Which isn't that far from the truth actually._' she realised, as she helped Sora up with her good arm. He pulled himself up, then suddenly placed a hand on her shoulder to support himself. She let out a small cry as her nerves were set alight by the pain. Sora turned to her, concerned. "You're hurt," he said. It wasn't a question, but she answered anyway, "It's nothing. I- I'm fine..." He frowned at her and placed his hand on her shoulder again, this time more gently. His other hand went to the side of his chest and he said, "Try to keep still, okay." She nodded and he took a deep breath, then exhaled. As the air rushed from his mouth, she saw green light flood from his hands. When it touched her shoulder, she felt a soothing sensation and her pain was gone almost immediately. The green light continued to spread across her and from his other hand. She felt the pain in her leg begin to lift as well and heard Sora sigh as he healed his own wounds. Then the light faded and Sora went limp. "Sora!" she said, catching him. He steadied himself and looked her in the eye. "Thanks." They both said it at the same time and started to laugh, then Tifa heard a sound behind them. She turned and saw the wyrvens getting ready to swoop down on them. Beneath them, groups of other heartless had begun to appear and were starting to make their way down. She looked back at Sora. "We have to go, now!" He nodded at her and the two of them started running in the direction of the town.

**0000**

Sora lazily pushed aside the curtain and collapsed onto the bed, breathing heavily. Tifa followed shortly after and leaned against the wall, letting her body slide to the floor. He continued to look up at the ceiling, as he thought back over what had happened. The chase back to their 'house' had gone on until dusk. Getting back was one thing, but then they'd had to give the heartless the slip, which was easier said than done. They had led the creatures on a merry chase through the winding alleys and decimated ruins, often splitting up and trying to force the heartless to do the same. The had finally managed to hide in the collapsed foundations of a building, however that still wasn't the end of the story. The heartless hadn't been quick to give up the search and the sun had just been dropping when they finally started to leave. Only then were the two able to freely make their way back home. '_I guess they were excited to have new hearts,_' Sora wondered to himself, '_They can't have had many visitors to prey on, we were probably the first chance they've had in a while_'

Sora turned to Tifa to see her looking miserable, then she finally said what they'd both been thinking, "We're never going to break through that." He nodded in agreement and sighed. "So, what are we going to do?" he questioned and she looked up at him. "The same as I was doing before you showed up," she said, "We have to try and fix my ship," He nodded again and thought about that, '_This could take weeks, months even!_'

"I don't understand." Sora turned to her when she spoke. She looked somewhat puzzled. "There were always more heartless than normal at the castle, but that was something else entirely," she closed her eyes and pressed her head against the wall behind her. "It's almost like they're being drawn there by something." Sora thought about that. There were many things that could summon the heartless; the heart of a world, '_No, that wouldn't explain the sudden rise in their numbers._' The darkness in people's hearts, '_I doubt there's any hearts left up there any more, come on think! What attracts the heartless more than anything?_' The answer came so quickly and readily that Sora was shocked it hadn't come earlier. He sat bolt upright in bed. "_The Keyblade!_"

"Um... what?" Sora turned to Tifa, to see her looking at him, confused. He realised that he'd said the last bit out loud. He decided to tell her. "The Keyblade. It's a powerful weapon that looks like a giant key," he explained, "The heartless are drawn in by it's power." She raised an eyebrow and sat up straighter. "I know what the Keyblade is Sora, but what does it have to do with this." He sighed and looked away. Many different explanations came to mind, but Sora used the one he'd never expected to. The truth. "There's a guy up in that castle," he began, noticing that he had piqued Tifa interest now, "He opened himself to darkness, but somehow managed to avoid becoming a heartless. Instead, he gained the power to control them and the ability to wield the Keyblade. Now he's up there commanding them, he's probably using the Keyblade to attract more of them to this world."

Her curiosity still didn't seem sated. In fact, she seemed even more bewildered than before. "But..." she began, her forehead creased and her eyes narrowed, "When I was travelling, looking for my friend, I heard about the Keyblade wielder from the people of other worlds," Sora closed his eyes. He knew exactly what she was going to say, "And they told me that he was going around fighting _against_ the heartless, not with them." Sora's eyes opened and met hers, but he quickly looked away, ready to shrink back inside himself. That's when he heard a voice inside him. It wasn't a voice he recognised, but at the same time it felt so familiar. It sounded like Kairi, but also Donald and Goofy and Jiminy. The voice sounded like all of his friends at once and it spoke two words, '_Tell her._' He protested. He didn't want to talk about it, it would just bring up painful memories again. '_She deserves to know._' The voice continued. His resistance crumbled just as easily as it had grown. He turned to face Tifa and opened his eyes. She was still looking at him expectantly. He resolved to tell her the truth, all of it.

"Tifa..." he began, then paused as he thought where to start. "The original Keyblade Master did fight the heartless." She was beginning to look interested again as he spoke, "He went from world to world with his friends, helping people protect their homes and locking out the darkness with his key." He turned away from her and stared into the distance, "He fought and fought and fought, until he eventually found his way to this world. He came here intending to rescue another of his friends from the darkness." he scowled and paused before continuing, "But, when he arrived, he found another who he had once called friend, waiting for him. This _friend_ laughed at him and told him was not worthy of the Keyblade." He felt his fingers slowly curl into fists as he recounted the next part, "He took the Keyblade from its master and left him lying there with nothing," he could feel himself shaking, "Nothing but a wooden sword." Tifa's eyes widened and flicked to the weapon at Sora's side, but he wasn't done yet, "Even his friends left him. They left him there, alone and weakened, so that they could follow the _true_ Keyblade master." He turned back to the girl beside him. "And now, both they and the Keyblade fight for the heartless, instead of against them."

He felt deflated. He'd been hiding from the truth. Ever since he'd lost the Keyblade, he'd been hiding from his own dark truth. And this truth was... that he was angry. He could feel this dark emotion growing inside him, uncoiling itself like a deadly viper, ready to strike out at anything nearby. Sora had never felt like this before, never felt this... rage. It was ugly, it was scary and worst of all, it was real.

"You..." The word broke him from his thoughts and he turned to see a pair of ruby globes in front of him. At some point, Tifa must have moved to sit next to him and was now looking at him with understanding on her face. "You're the Keyblade master." When she said that, Sora felt something inside him snap. He turned to her with fire in her eyes. She flinched slightly at his gaze, but didn't look away. "I _thought_ I was the Keyblade master. I'm not though and I never will be." He stood up and Tifa backed off a bit, still looking straight into his eyes. "I'm no master, Tifa. I'm just a little boy who's playing at being the hero." '_You were just the delivery boy._' Riku's words cut through him like a knife and his rage grew even more. Tifa took a step forward and went to place a hand on his shoulder, "Sora, don't think like that, of course you're no-"

"YES I AM!"

Tifa stumbled backwards at the sound of his anger being released, but he barely noticed. "All anyone's ever done is doubt that I'm not good enough to wield the Keyblade." '_Hard to believe that you, of all people, are the chosen one._' He was letting it all out now. All of the doubt, the anger, the _weakness. _It was all coming out. "And they're right, I'm not. I don't have what it takes to be a hero." '_You rookies still don't understand what it takes, to be a true hero._' Tifa looked genuinely frightened by his sudden change, staring at him with wide eyes. "Wherever I go, everyone thinks like that, _everyone_" '_A circus of fools._' Tifa was shaking her head at him, but he wasn't really talking to her. He just needed to get this out. "They all want the Key for something. They never want me, I'm just the guy lucky enough to carry it." '_Oh, the key!_' He could feel tears running down his cheeks as he poured his heart out. "And sometimes, they don't trust me just because I was chosen by it." '_There is no room in this ocean for you or your Key!_' He felt his anger subsiding, in its place was something infinitely darker and lonelier. Emptiness. His shoulders drooped and his voice dropped so low it was almost a whisper. "But despite all the trouble it gave me, it also gave me strength" The tears cascaded down his cheeks now. "Wi- without it, I- I'm too weak to fight." He looked up and his eyes locked with Tifa's, "Without the Keyblade, I'm nothing." And with that he pushed past her and walked out of the door, into the darkness.

The cold night air felt good in his lungs. He took a long deep breath and then exhaled in a heavy sigh. "Sora..." He didn't turn. He was done talking, the rage was gone. His heart felt so... empty without it, though. He found that he almost wanted it back. "Sora." The voice was closer this time, right behind him. He felt a warm hand on his shoulder and suddenly noticed how cold he felt. He shivered, then replied, "I've said everything I need to, Tifa." Her grip tightened on his shoulder. "Maybe you have, but I haven't." He let out a shuddering breath and turned his head. Her eyes were filled with worry, but also... determination. The same determination she wore in battle. "Look Sora... I haven't known you that long," she started, choosing her words carefully, "But... in the short time I have known you, I've never thought of you as weak." He could feel tears brimming in his eyes. "Tifa, I..."

"No!" She said, cutting him off, "When we first met, you saved my life. Not only that, you gave up your own life, so I could escape." Sora gulped, remembering that spur of the moment decision to give himself up. "Sora, I've never seen you with a Keyblade, but I still think that you have one of the strongest hearts I've ever seen." He sighed and looked away from her eyes.

"You don't know me, Tifa. Not really." He continued to look at the floor, not wanting to see the look she gave him. He felt the pressure go from his shoulder and turned despite himself. She was looking at him with one hand on her hip. "I think I do." She leaned forwards and looked into his eyes. It felt like she was staring right into his heart. "You're the one who fought off the heartless with a stick. You're the one who threw himself between the darkness and a girl you didn't even know. You're the one who rode down a wyrven on a flying elephant." He smiled at that and suddenly, he didn't feel quite so empty. "You may not think so, but there's definitely something special about you." With that she turned and walked back towards the house. Sora turned the opposite way and stared down the street. He found himself remembering all of the good times he'd had; swimming with Ariel and Flounder, flying with Peter and Tinker Bell, crossing the desert on a magic carpet with Genie and Aladdin, meeting Donald and Goofy. '_Donald and Goofy_' He remembered the dejected looks they'd worn as they followed Riku. They'd never wanted to leave him. As he thought about it more, he found himself coming back to just how selfish and bitter he had been to Tifa. '_I need to stop dwelling on the past._' With this thought, his face lit up in a broad smile. '_I made a promise..._'

"SORA!"

He spun just in time to see Tifa fly through the air towards him. She landed a few metres in front of him, her body twisted at awkward angle. Behind her stood a huge heartless clutching an enormous shield. Worst, was that the shield was alive. It had the face of a dog, snapping and growling at the limp body before it. It looked hungry. Sora's hand went to his side and he cursed himself silently. He'd left his sword inside. He looked back at Tifa's unconscious body, then at the heartless and he made up his mind.

Both the shield and its wielder looked mildly confused as the unarmed boy ran at them, screaming. The heartless turned its attention away from Tifa and focused on this new annoyance. '_That's right,_' he thought, coming to a stop, '_Stay away from her._' The dog-shield gnashed its teeth and drooled at him, tugging forwards slightly. '_There!_' he thought, as the heartless struggled to keep his shield back. '_The shield is reckless, the wielder is cautious._' He felt a plan forming. Once again, this plan was terrible and probably wouldn't work, but it was also once again to save Tifa. He glanced at her, the one who he'd raged and screamed at for his own selfish reasons. The only one who still stood by him. He smiled at the starving heartless before him and beckoned slowly with his hand.

The dog went crazy and charged, dragging the owner along with it. Sora also charged, his hand outstretched, pointing at the heartless. "Fire!" he shouted, as he cast the spell. With no weapon to channel the magic, the drain on his energy was astounding, but he ignored the fatigue. He let adrenaline take over. The fireball flew beneath the shield to hit the wielder's unguarded leg. The heartless stumbled and fell to its knees, using the shield to support itself. Sora quickly cast another spell and a dark ball descended upon his enemy, forcing it down to the ground. When he reached the thing, he grabbed the top jaw of the snarling beast and forced its mouth open. It managed to bite down a few times but he held on and managed to hold the top lip up. He pulled back his hand and began sending fireball after fireball into the gaping maw. The creature began to whimper and he let go, stepping back.

The heartless started to fade and Sora turned to his friend. "Tifa!" he called shaking her shoulders. She didn't respond. He scooped her up and carried her into the house, suddenly very aware of how tired he was. He deposited her on the bed and leaned over her, placing a hand on her wounded side. He released the last of his energy in a glow of green and held it until both them had their wounds healed. Then, the world went black.

**0000**

**A/N:** _Well, that's a lot of words. I swear I didn't realise how long this was until the end, I'd actually planned to add a bit more of a conclusion to this, but I went for the cliffhanger just to shorten it a bit. I'm honestly not sure how I did with this one, it was definitely the hardest to write so far, especially Sora's rant near the end. I think I may take a short break after so much writing, but don't worry I'll be back soon._

_Until then, Merry Christmas good readers._


	4. Chapter IV: Friends

**A/N:**_ I'm back! This time I have a much shorter chapter. This is actually an extended version of what I had intended to be the conclusion of Chapter III. I like this chapter, as much as I enjoyed breaking Sora, I enjoyed putting him back together much more. Oh, and new characters appear as well, isn't that exciting._

**0000**

**Chapter IV: Friends**

Tifa opened her eyes slowly. Her head felt like it had been shoved into an ice box, then an thrown in an oven. She shakily raised a hand to her throbbing skull and massaged her temples, trying to remember why she felt like this. The memories came in a flood of clarity. Sora revealing the truth, the argument, the heartless taking her by surprise. Her head shot up and she was fully awake in an instant. She quickly surveyed her surroundings. '_Dark, Cold, smells like ashes. I'm in the house,_' she realised, then continued her search, '_No heartless, good. No fire, less good. Sora probably didn't get chance to light it..._

_Wait, Sora!_' her eyes widened and she scanned the room again. Sora wasn't in the other bed, the firepit was full, so he hadn't gone for firewood '_Where is he?_' She began to sit up, when she realised that something was stopping her. She looked down.

Sora was collapsed next to her bed with his head resting on her chest. His right hand clutched her side, while his left gripped her shoulder. She was starting to blush at the awkwardness of his position, when her head exploded again. She gasped at the pain and jerked forwards, breaking Sora's hold on her. He slid off of her and fell to the floor. He groaned and stirred in his slumber, his eyelids fluttering and finally opening. The two stared at each other for a moment, her holding her head in her hands and him sprawled across the floor. Then, his eyes lit up. "Tifa?" She smiled a little as he came to his senses and the pain lessened slightly, "Morning, Sora," she replied and he began to smile. He pushed himself up and moved to sit beside the bed. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Not bad," she lied, "A bit tired, but I'm fine." Of course, as she said that, another stab of fire lanced through her brain, making her grit her teeth and move her palm to her forehead. Sora raised his eyebrow at her. She sighed. "My head feels like it's about to burst at any second, happy?" he smirked and shrugged, "Kinda," she scowled and moved her hand away as the pain subsided yet again, "What's that supposed to mean?" she demanded. He shrugged again, "I'm not happy that your head wants to explode, but I am happy that your not lying." She sighed at that and lay back down on her bed, then frowned. This all felt very familiar for some reason. "I feel like we've been in this situation before." He laughed when she said that and she turned to glare at him. His laughter started to die off, "We have," he answered, "We've just switched places this time." Her mouth opened slightly as she realised that she had been sat right where Sora was there looking down at him not two days ago. She chuckled, forgetting the headache. "We really need to stop meeting like this."

He smiled again, but it was a thoughtful smile and his eyes had a serious look. He turned away and stared at the wall. '_Oh no..._' she thought, because this look was also very familiar. "Tifa..." His tone filled her with dread. The last time he had said her name like that, he'd broken down and raged at her. "Thank you." She blinked. That was definitely not what she'd been expecting. She noticed he was looking at her again, his blue eyes shining slightly. He was still smiling. "I shut you out, I refused to even look at you, then I took all of my anger out on you, for no reason." He looked a little bit sad, but the grin was still on his face, "But, you didn't care, you still wanted to help me, you made me realise how stupid I've been." She opened her mouth to say something, but he pressed his finger against her lips. He was obviously not finished yet, "So thank you, not just for that, for everything; coming to help me when we first met, staying by my side while I was recovering, listening to me rant about my problems when you had every right to leave." His smile broadened and he removed his hand from her mouth, "Thank you for being the friend I don't deserve." He got up and went to move away, but she grabbed his wrist. Their eyes came back together. He looked at her with that stupid smile still plastered across his face and she realised something, '_This is the Sora I never saw._' Since he'd first woken, it had always felt like there was something he was hiding. When he smiled, it was always with a hint of sadness. When he looked at her, his eyes would be lost in thought. Now, he'd spilled his heart out and he had nothing to hide. His smile was wide and real, his eyes seemed to glint with joy.

She felt proud to call this boy her friend.

She also realised that his sword wasn't at his side and a small smile crept across her lips. "You forgot your weapon," she said and he looked a bit puzzled, "What do you mean?" she glanced back into those narrowed blue orbs and felt the corners of her mouth move higher. "Last night, when you stormed off, you left your sword here." His eyes narrowed further and he didn't seem to realise where she was going with this, "Yes, why?" She kept the smirk on her face as she continued, "There was a heartless out there, a big one. How did you get me past it." He looked at the floor when he began to understand what she was implying, "I- I had to fight it." '_And there it is,_' she thought triumphantly. She sat up and he raised his eyes back to hers. "You were alone, unarmed and tired, yet you still fought off that thing to protect me. Even better, you won!" she raised a hand to his shoulder and stared at him intently. "You keep saying that you don't deserve things; my friendship, the Keyblade, to be a hero. You think you've faced it, but your still hiding from the real truth." His jaw had gone slack slightly as she spoke, "You may not have the Keyblade, but that doesn't mean you have to be weak. I believed in you, it's time you did the same."

His eyes widened when she finished and he slowly turned away. She let him slip from her grasp and watched him stare at the wall. She was quite shocked at how quickly she'd accepted him as her friend like that. Friends were something she never really got chance to make. Her constant search for Cloud meant she had to move to a new place almost immediately after arriving and she'd never really got chance to stay in one place long enough to call anyone there a friend. '_I suppose a broken gummi ship has its upsides,_' she thought to herself.

She realised that Sora had turned to face her again and that he was still grinning. "Tifa, I know you've done a lot for me, but I still have one favour to ask." She rolled her eyes jokingly and he laughed. She gestured for him to continue. "When I was travelling, I made a promise to my friends." His smile became serious, "I always keep my promises." She nodded, that sounded good and everything, but what did this have to do with her. "I never want you to let me break that promise ever again, understand. If you think I'm about to, I want you to stop me, it's very important." She was curious now, '_What could be this important to him and why does he need me?_' She sat up straighter and looked him in the eye. "What was the promise?" she asked. He stood tall and smiled down at her. Impossibly, his smile appeared to have grown even more. Sora was beaming at her with the widest, happiest smile she had ever seen. He told her the promise he'd made. The promise that was so very important to him.

"No frowning, no sad faces."

**0000**

Donald frowned. It was the third time he'd done it in the last ten minutes and it was getting boring. This made him frown again and he shook his head violently. He jumped up and began to pace across the cold floor of the gummi ship. It wasn't their gummi ship, Sora had probably taken that already to escape to Traverse Town. That had always been the unspoken emergency procedure; if something is wrong, go find Leon. This ship was one of the heartless vessels, re-purposed for use by the non-heartless residents of the castle. Riku had told him and Goofy to go and prepare the ship, since they were so familiar with this kind of vessel.

"So, uh, why d'you reckon the Keyblade went and changed it's mind?" Donald turned at the sound of his friend's voice. This was the fourth time Goofy had asked that question in the three days that they'd been there. He sat down and turned away from him, staring at the wall. "Ah, who cares?" said Donald, making a dismissive gesture with his hand, "We need it to find the King." This seemed to be his answer to everything recently, even though he wasn't sure if it was even true. The thought of helping the king made everything he'd done seem more... justified. "I bet Sora cares." Donald closed his eyes as Goofy's words hit him. They had left the gummi ship behind so that Sora could get off the world, maybe he would even bring the guys from Traverse Town back with him. However, Donald wasn't so sure that Sora would just leave. As much as Sora needed help, he wasn't sure that the boy would leave his friends behind now that he was so close. '_Friends,_' he considered the word. '_Are we Sora's friends? We left him there alone, can we still call ourselves his friends?'_

The doors to the ship slid open and the two turned to face the new arrival. He was taller than Sora and a year older as well. He had long silver hair andcarried the Keyblade over his shoulder. He was quite the sight. As impressive as the entrance was though, Donald couldn't help but feel like something was... wrong, with this image. Something just wasn't right about Riku holding the Keyblade. Goofy jumped up at the sight, "Oh... hey there Riku!" His welcome would have seemed warm and open to anyone else, but Donald caught the subtle moment of apprehension in his friend's voice. '_He feels the same._'

"Hey... guys." he answered, moving to the console. Riku's greetings were always distant and hesitant, but never cold. This never failed to surprise Donald. With the way he'd learnt to control heartless and how he's spoken to Sora, Donald hadn't expected Riku to be acting like this. He watched the boy fiddle with the controls and push a few buttons. He clearly didn't know what he was doing. "You need to push the starter," Donald said, a little amused that he had managed to find something that even Riku couldn't do. "I know," he replied, then frantically began scanning the buttons. He pushed a glowing orange one near the centre. Nothing happened. Donald waddled over to the struggling boy and pushed the big red button to the right. The entire ship lit up and began whirring. He turned to Riku and looked up at him, tapping his webbed foot slightly. The Keyblade wielder smirked and waved his hand lazily, "Sure, go ahead." He took a seat and leaned back, placing his hands behind his head.

Donald quickly finished up the final preparations and then asked Riku where they were going. "Traverse Town." Donald nodded and pulled a lever by his side. The engines buzzed and the ship shot forwards. It wasn't as fast as the old ship or as well-equipped, but it was all they had. Soon, they were beyond the outer edge of the world and Donald began to activate the warp gummi. "So, why Traverse Town?" asked Goofy. Donald wasn't really paying much attention to the conversation since he was concentrating. The job wasn't that hard, but he still found it difficult to talk to the boy with the silver hair. He heard Riku give a small laugh. "It's your lucky day," he said, "It turns out your friend Sora may be able to help us after all." Donald quickly forgot about the warp drive at that and spun to face the others. "Sora?" he questioned and Riku turned to him with a glint in his eyes, "Yeah, I can't be sure yet, but he may hold the answer to finding her heart." Neither Donald or Goofy had to ask who he was talking about. Their eyes met briefly, a look of understanding passing between them. '_Kairi,_' thought Donald, as he turned back to his work, '_It's all those two seem to care about. She's managed to drive two best friends apart._' Donald thought about that. Both Riku and Sora wanted to save Kairi, the only thing that differed were their methods and because of that, they found themselves against one another. Donald also noticed that Riku had referred to Sora as _your friend_ and not _our_ _friend._ '_You would never believe that they were once best friends._' He was mildly aware that Goofy was still questioning Riku, but he was too lost in his thoughts to really pay attention.

The warp gummi came to life and the whole ship shook and seemed to shift around them. The warp lasted about ten seconds and suddenly they were looking down upon the world of Traverse Town. Donald was glad they were back here. It was time, he decided, to go to that old fall-back plan again; when something goes wrong, find Leon.

**0000**

**A/N:** _Okay, there you go. This chapter was a lot shorter, since it was mainly a conclusion to the last one and a set up for future plot lines. I'd really appreciate some feedback on how I wrote Riku, Donald and Goofy. If they are well received then I will continue to write small sections for them. However, if people want I will dedicate all my time to Sora and Tifa. I have no problem with either outcome, so please give me some feedback. I mostly have to make up their alliance and how they feel towards each other, since it's so short in the actual game. Until next time, good readers._


End file.
